The Air in Washington
by col.mustard
Summary: After a brutal rape, Rosalie Hale moves to Washington to live with her mom and her new step-family. All she is looking for is an escape, but finds love in the arms of a certain bear of a man named Emmett. AH.
1. Chapter 1

Being on this plane, flying to Washington, it didn't seem real, like this wasn't really me, this wasn't really my life. I think it was because it had all happened so fast. It was hard to believe that only a week ago I was living happily at home in Virginia, just starting my senior year of high school with the greatest friends in the world, a dad who let me do basically anything I wanted, and the boyfriend of my dreams (the thought made me cringe.)

I stared out the window, my heart beating erratically in my chest. I could feel it sending vibrations down to the pit of my stomach. I clenched my abs in, but it did nothing to help. It wasn't that I was afraid to fly or anything, no the plane didn't bother me at all, it was the thought of what would happen when I landed that got me so nervous.

I was seeing my mother for the first time in a year. Now don't get me wrong, I love my mother and I knew that she 1. loved me better than anyone else, and 2. knew me better than anyone else, and it was for both these reasons that I was so scared to face her.

But I didn't want to think about it. I tried to focus on anything other than what I was doing, why I was on a plane, where I was heading. I had spent the whole plane ride trying to keep all reminiscent thoughts out of me mind. For the past week all I had been doing was trying to avoid thinking about it. I glanced over at the lady next to me, she had her headphones on and was reading a magazine.

I was so stupid not to grab a book or something before boarding the plane. A seven hour plane ride with no distractions was the worst place to put yourself when you were trying to avoid the thoughts in your own head. They were all I had for company, and they kept creeping up like an unwanted guest.

I stared fixedly out the window. I had to think about something else to keep the bad thoughts from coming up on me. Anything but my reason for leaving Virginia. My mind fixed on my mom, then inevitably I started thinking about her new family. It wasn't like these were all unicorns and candy canes either, but it was still better than the alternative.

My mom and my dad had divorced a year and a half ago. I guess looking back I should have seen it coming. I think I actually, subconsciously, kind of did. I knew they weren't happy, hadn't been for along time. Yet still, it somehow managed to take me by surprise. "We want you to know that this wasn't your fault," they had both stressed the divorce cliche. Yeah, yeah, thanks mom and dad. Great, it's not my fault. I feel a lot better now.

They had gotten split custody of me. My mom had moved out of the house and I had traveled back and forth between them. That is until six months after the official divorce, my mom dropped the bomb. She was getting remarried and was moving to Washington. Just like that. I know it was selfish of me, but I was furious with her. Just when I was starting to get used to the situation, starting to adjust to the life of having divorced parents, she goes and changes the rules again completely. And not only was she getting remarried, oh no, she was moving across the country.

I should have been happy for her. Carlisle seemed nice, though I had only met him once. I thought back to the meeting. I had showed up at mom's house unexpected. I was supposed to be staying at my dad's that night, but I don't know, I just missed my mom. Dad wasn't going to be home anyway. I used my key to get in when I had gotten the surprise of my life. My mom was sitting on the couch, kissing a man.

"Mom!" I remember my voice coming out at a higher pitch and decibel than I had meant it to. The only thing I could feel at the moment was shock. I stared at them as they pulled apart. I had never seen the man before in my life. I noticed that he had blonde hair and was definitely handsome in a distinguished way. I watched as they looked at me with as much shock as I must have been reflecting back at them.

"Rose!" my mom squeaked back. Like mother like daughter. At that moment, I wasn't even angry. No, that would come later. I was just completely, unequivocally, surprised. I mean, if you knew my mother, you would understand why this was so. She was definitely not the kind of person to be kissing someone I had never met on a couch in a darkened living room.

We both were just staring at each other. Carlisle looked slightly unsure of what to do, but as my mother and I were just staring, he cleared his throat and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Carlisle. You must be Rosalie. I've heard so much about you."

I shook his hand. "Wish I could say the same," I quipped back, looking pointedly at my mother. She only looked guilty. The anger had started to enter my body now, and the look of guilt on mom's face only intensified it. I was justified in my anger! She looked guilty because she knew this too.

"Right," Carlisle scratched the back of his head. "I should probably go to let you guys talk."

"Esme," he turned to my mom, the expression on his face was so gentle, so caring, "I'll call you tomorrow." His eyes were intense as he looked at her, like he was sending her a secret message. From the secret smile she sent back at him, I'm guessing she understood what it was.

For some reason this made me angrier. Perhaps because I was jealous. She was my mother. I didn't even know this man and they were sending knowing looks to each other. It's odd, but I don't think I would have been as angry if in fact it were just some strange man, a rebound guy, that she was kissing in her house. Instead it was someone who obviously meant a lot to her.

Carlisle let himself out the door. It was closed for a good couple minutes before either of us spoke. It was mom who ended up breaking the silence.

"Rose," her voice was cautious, like she were talking to a wild animal about to attack.

"So who was that?" my voice was deceptively calm, but my mom knew me too well. She knew I was angry, hurt.

"His name's Carlisle Cullen. I knew him from college. He...well...oh honey, I didn't want you to find out like this," she shrugged her shoulders and took a step toward me, I simultaneously stepped back. A look of hurt flashed in her eyes, but then it was gone and there was only concern, and pleading for me to understand.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" My voice was cold.

"Rose, come on, come sit down," she gestured toward the couch, wanting me to follow her into the living room out of the entrance.

"Mom," my voice was sharp but I didn't care. "I don't want to sit down. I want you to tell me why you lied to me."

"Rose," her voice was now slightly admonishing. "Listen. I...it all happened so fast. I didn't lie to you, I just didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to upset you. I was trying to protect you."

I stared at her icily. "So how long had it been going on, between you and Carlisle?"

"Rose, please come sit down," mom once again gestured toward the living room. This time I relented and sat next to her on the couch.

"Well, I guess you could say we officially started dating about two months ago." The way we were sitting together, on the couch, chatting together, it was like how it was supposed to be. My mother and I had always been close, but only now it was like some creepy funhouse mirror, something was off, oh yeah, the fact that my mother had been keeping a secret boyfriend from me.

Two months ago. Officially. Then it dawned on me. "Two months ago. That was when you went away for a week, to Washington. You said it was to visit an old friend." My mom looked guilty again.

"Oh honey, if you would just let me explain."

"You went to Washington with Carlisle, didn't you?" I questioned her.

"Well-" which was admission enough for me.

"So you've been dating him for two months officially. How long unofficially?" I questioned her.

She didn't say anything, just stood there. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

That's when I caught sight of it. I'm not sure why I noticed it then, or why I hadn't noticed it before, but there it was, nestled on her left ring finger, a small diamond.

It was almost like I could feel the blood draining from my face. "You're getting married!" It was an accusation.

"Rose-"

"What the hell!" I shouted, it was like I didn't even know my mother anymore. I felt betrayed. It all suddenly seemed so clear to me now. It was probably sudden with her and Carlisle, but not that sudden. He was the reason mom and dad had gotten a divorce. He was what finally set mom over the edge. She got a divorce to be with him.

The news bowled me over. I had always kind of thought that it was dad's fault, just assumed it really. Dad was the one who was never home. He was never reliable, always starting arguments. I guess I even had my suspicions that he had cheated on mom, not that there was any proof of that though, or that I actually had been looking. I guess I always preferred to stay blissfully unaware.

But now the truth came out. It was mom. She was the one who had been seeing another man. How long had it been really going on? Though I really didn't want to talk to her, the question had me curious enough to do so.

"How long mom?" I knew she would know what I meant.

"Rose-"

"Please," I cut her off, "If you don't tell me, I'm sure I'll only imagine it worse."

I had to give her credit. At least she was honest now; she didn't shrink away. "I ran into Carlisle again about a year ago. He was here for a medical convention. At first it was just good to see an old friend. We became pen pals of sorts. My feelings grew from there, but nothing happened until after the divorce. I promise you that."

It was so much worse that it was my mom who was at fault. I guess I wouldn't have been as angry at my dad because I didn't trust him as much. I expected more from mom. I expected her to tell me.

"I'm going home now," I had said and turned to leave. She hadn't tried to stop me. It wasn't until the next day that she had dropped the last bomb. Carlisle lived in Washington and she was moving there to be with him, him and his two kids.

She had asked me to go with her, but I had refused. I said I wanted to stay and live with dad. It was going to be my senior year, all my friends were here. I think that's why in the end she left me with so little of a fight. She didn't want to hurt me by taking me away from all my friends. I knew that she did it for me, I knew that, but somehow it still hurt, like she didn't really care if I went with her or not, she had a new family.

I thought about that new family now, the family I would be intruding on. Carlisle, the good doctor, and his two kids, Edward and Alice. I didn't know that much about them, except that Edward was a senior like me, and Alice was a sophomore. I pictured them as the perfect kids, the perfect happy family. I was an outsider, they would resent me coming and ruining their happy existence with my depression.

My reminiscing turned into a little, personal party of self-pity. I had two parents, two places to go, but both were unacceptable choices. I couldn't stay home in Virginia, couldn't face high school again, couldn't face him, but I also didn't want to face my mother, nor Carlisle, Edward, and Alice. All the anger I had held for my mother I now directed toward myself. She had asked me to go with her and I hadn't. If only I had, it wouldn't have happened.

Unintentionally, the memory came back to me. Just a flash of pain and humiliation. A strangled sob. The smell of sweat. I fought the memory off by screaming silently in my mind. I put my head between my knees. I started to breath very deliberately, in and out, in and out.

When I was calm again, I sat back up. The woman next to me gave me a curious look, but I was too tired to even manage a weak smile, I just turned my head back toward the window.

Only a week. Only a week ago my life had been so different. 


	2. Chapter 2

Well, this was it. I stood in the airport, feeling almost sick but trying to cultivate a feeling of numbness. I had decided before even getting on the plane that I would act as normal as possible. I new I wouldn't be able to be my cheery old self, but I figured polite, if distant, civility would procure less harassing questions then sullen crying, which is what I really felt like doing.

I saw my mom before she saw me. She looked better than ever. She had gotten her hair cut, which she had mentioned to me on the phone a couple weeks ago, though I hadn't seen it yet. When she told me, I was a little sad to think that my mom's crowning glory of thick, blonde, waist-length hair was no longer there. It was exactly like mine, her gift to me, beautiful blonde hair.

Though now that I saw her, I knew it suited her. It was shoulder length now, and bouncy. She looked almost like a different person. Lighter. Everyone had complimented my mother on her lovely hair. And it did make her look very glamourous, an untouchable beauty. She was still beautiful now, only somehow less aloof. What was that quote? A woman who changes her hair is changing her life? That was my mother. And I was part of her old life, her literal reminder of burdensome weight, pulling her down in strands and strands of gold.

"Rosie!" my mom called me out of my reverie, waving as she half ran toward me. Here it was, I almost couldn't bear the hug from her. She wrapped her arms around me and I instinctively did the same. I wished I could just sink into her comfort, like I did when I was a child, but now that comfort only nauseated me. I didn't want to be in the arms of someone who loved me. I didn't really know why.

"Rose, it's so good to see you," she pulled back and looked closely at my face. Her expression was gentle and I gave her a weak smile. I looked at her forehead, then her chin, avoiding her eyes. I could sense her scrutiny and I hastily pulled back. Well, here it goes Rosie old gal.

"Mom! It's so good to see you too. I missed you," I smiled brightly and hugged her again, anything to get her to stop examining my expressions. My mom knew me too well.

"Carlisle wanted to come with me to pick you up but I insisted we needed some mother daughter time," she wrapped her arm around my shoulders as she lead me to the baggage claim. Oh joy. I never thought I would be saying this, but I kind of wished Carlisle was there.

"Yeah, cool," I smiled. Mom wasn't accosting me with questions right away, but I knew as soon as we got in the car, they were coming. I wasn't exactly sure how long a car ride it was from the airport to their house, but I knew it wouldn't be fast enough.

"Rose, I'm glad you came," mom looked at me sincerely, a little worriedly. I figured what she must be thinking. She thought I was still upset with her, mad about the divorce and everything that came after it. That wasn't it, but I would rather her think it than explain the real truth.

"Yeah, me too," I said, as heartily as I could muster.

We went to find my bag. I only brought a suitcase with some essentials. I had also packed a couple of boxes with more clothes, shoes, make up and the like. Most of my stuff, though, I had decided to just leave with dad. All my sentimental things, my childhood toys, the knick knacks from around my room, all my decorations and things I've collected and saved. All the things that I never use, but don't want to get rid of.

"I like your haircut by the way," I told her, and I did.

Mom smiled warmly at me, her Esme smile. "Thanks. I like it too," she tossed her head playfully.

I was wrong, mom didn't attack me as soon as we got in the car, she waited until we reached the highway, all of five minutes. "So, are you going to tell me what is really going on here?" Mom asked. I was glad that she had to keep her eyes on the road.

"I don't know what you mean," I said, though I knew better than to think that would work.

"Rose, you call me up out of the blue one day, asking to come live with me. The only explanation I got was that you missed me and were sick of living with dad. Now don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that you want to come live with me. I've missed you, too, but I know that there is more to the story than that." She glanced over at me. I didn't say anything right away, so she guessed. "Did you have a fight with your father?"

I shrugged. I knew I had to tell her something, something plausible. Perhaps a fight with dad would be a good excuse, but what if she talked to him, and he told her no such thing had happened. "Not really, he's not around a lot, you know," I just shrugged. Mom made a little huffing noise. As much as Esme knew her daughter, I knew my mother back. I knew she would have been worried about me being in the house by myself when dad went on business trips, knew she would be worried I was being neglected in the parenting department. It was a good distraction.

"What was it then?" Esme persisted. Well, not good enough.

"It's going to sound stupid," I fell back on the only lie I had thought of. I really didn't want to use it, I didn't even want to say his name, but the best lies were the ones that were founded on some sort of truth, and I needed a good one.

"What, you can tell me," Mom said encouragingly, "This is a no judgment zone."

I took a deep breath. "Um, well I had sort of started dating a boy at the beginning of the school year."

"Who?" Mom interrupted. I was hoping she wouldn't ask for his name. I thought briefly about making one up, but then just said it.

"Royce King." I could hear the hatred in my own voice. Talking about this, even making up a story that was only fractionally true, it hurt. I wanted to gnash my teeth together and scream at the same time. I wanted to jump out of the car and run into the trees that were zooming by out the window. Run right into the woods and not stop, but I had to keep it together, just a while longer I told myself.

"Okay," with the word, my mom indicated that I should go on.

"It was going really well," I tried to think of it like it wasn't me. I was making up a story in which I wasn't the main character, "I thought I loved him," It wasn't me. It wasn't me-I repeated the mantra in my mind. I never felt that way. I never thought I loved him. I was never that stupid, that naive. "Then I found him cheating on me, with Lucy." I said the name of a girl who used to be one of my friends, one mom knew about.

My mom shook her head. "That's rough Rosie," my mom said sympathetically, "And I know it's hard now, but trust me, you'll forget him. You'll find someone who deserves you and appreciates how lucky he is to get you."

"Thanks mom," I smiled at her as though her words helped me.

"Rose-" she cut off.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing...That Royce sounds like a real bastard, and I never liked Lucy anyway."

"Thanks," I smiled. I knew my mom. I knew what she wanted to say, that I shouldn't let those two run me out of town, like I was the one at fault. But I also knew that she was really happy that I was coming to stay with her, so she would let it go.

**^%%***####%%%%*(*)(*()*()^#######%%%%^**

I thought the act of meeting my mom again made me nervous, well, the thought of meeting the Cullens was about ten times worse. I was an outsider, an intruder. I felt so nervous that I almost didn't even want to get out of the car when we pulled into the driveway in front of the large house. I think my mom could sense my anxiety.

"Rose, they are going to love you. Don't worry. They are really nice."

"I smiled weakly at her in acknowledgement."

"Edward is in your grade. He's a really good kid, I'm sure you'll get along. And Alice is only a few grades below you. You'll like her as well," Mom continued, not really realizing that she wasn't helping. The thing was, I didn't want to deal with kids my own age, kids I was expected to make friends with, to socialize with. It would have been so much better if Carlisle didn't have kids. I didn't want to deal with a house full of people.

"Well, come on then," Mom said. She had pulled my bag out of the trunk as I just stood there, staring at the house. I reluctantly followed her in.

"Hello! We're here!" Mom shouted as she entered the house, putting my bag off to the side. The entrance was rather large and decorated as though it were out of a magazine, and yet it still managed to be homey and familiar. There were shoes thrown off to the side, some shopping bags piled up at the entrance, a hat hung on an old-fashioned hat rack.

"In here," I heard a female voice call from the next room over. I followed directly behind my mom into what must be the living room. I was completely stunned by what I found. Hung up over the the couch was a large banner with the words "Welcome Rosalie!" hand-painting across it. Standing under the banner was a small group of people.

I immediately recognized Carlisle. The rest were teenagers, two girls and two boys. One was really petite with short black hair. She had yelled out "Surprise!" when I had entered. The boy standing next to her was as big as she was small, he had short brown hair and was handsome in that all-American manly kind of way. Standing next to him was beautiful boy, significantly shorter, (though that wasn't really saying much considering how tall the other boy was), with rusty brown hair, which was wildly uncombed. Looking so relaxed in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt, with a lazy grin on his face, he could have been posing for an Urban Outfitters add. Next to him was an average-looking girl with long brown hair. She had blown a new-years-party-noise-maker with such little enthusiasm when I had entered that I almost laughed.

Before I could barely take them in, the little one was running up to me and gave me a quick hug. "Hello Rosalie!" she said bouncily, "I'm Alice. It's so nice to finally meet you. Sorry you couldn't make it to the wedding! Let me introduce you to everyone." I didn't have a chance to say anything before she was pointing the people out to me. "You know my dad," she gestured to Carlisle quickly; "This is my brother, Edward," Urban Outfitters; "And his girlfriend Bella," brown-hair; "And the big guy over here is Emmett, a surrogate Cullen," she gestured to the bear-man.

Alice looked at me so happily I could practically see her tail wagging. "It's nice to meet you all," I smiled warmly at them with a little wave. I knew they were all trying to do something nice for me, make me feel welcome, and I really appreciated the thought; I really did. They had no way of knowing that I much rather would have just been allowed to go up to my room.

"We're so glad to have you, Rosalie," Carlisle said kindly. I smiled at him. No one seemed to really know what to do now, not that Alice noticed.

"Come sit down," Alice gestured to the couch, literally pushing Edward out of the way from where he was standing in front of it so that I could sit down.

"Uh, okay," I said weakly, taking a seat. I really just wanted to go find my room.

"Tell us how your flight was," Alice sat down on the coffee table.

I wished I could make an excuse to go upstairs, but I didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful after all the trouble they went through, I mean, they made a banner.

"Oh, it was fine," I shrugged my shoulders. I took a moment to see what everyone else was doing. Edward had taken a seat in a chair, Bella perched on the arm of it. Carlisle had walked over to put his arm around my mom's waist. I tried not to stare at this. My parents had never displayed such signs of physical affection. Emmett was still standing off to the side of the couch.

There was something that I immediately didn't like about Emmett, and I knew what it was. He reminded me of Royce. He was a jock, handsome and knew it. I could tell by the cocky grin on his face. He was the one that all the girls went for, so therefore believed that he had a right to any girl he wanted. He was exactly the kind of man I would have been attracted to before.

He was also big and intimidating, and ever since it happened, I still didn't really feel comfortable around men, any men, especially large powerful ones. Though I knew it wasn't reasonable. I knew all men weren't bad and untrustworthy, that it was ridiculous to be afraid of them all, I guess I still kind of was.

What man could I trust? I thought I could trust Royce, but I couldn't. Better to trust none of them than the wrong one and get hurt again. Emmett must have seen me looking at him and he grinned at me, I quickly turned away.

My mom had a concerned look on her face like she wanted to say something. Yes mom, I thought silently, tell them I must be tired and insist I be allowed to go rest. She seemed to get my mental telepathy, too, since she spoke up.

"Alice, why don't you show Rosalie her room?" Mom suggested.

"Okay!" Alice jumped up, pulling me by the arm she tugged me toward the staircase I had seen from the main entrance.

"Let me just grab my bag," I said hastily, before she could pull me up the stairs completely.

"Oh, don't worry," Alice waved her hand, "Emmett will get it for you," she gestured to Emmett, who had apparently followed us into the foyer.

"Sure thing, sweet pea," Emmett said with a devastating smile.

I couldn't think of a reason to protest, so I let him grab the bag as I turned to follow Alice up the stairs.

As I walked up the stairs, I could feel Emmett's presence right behind me. I could feels his eyes on my back, my butt. I almost had a panic attack. I tried to focus on Alice's small, feisty frame.

"Well, this is it," Alice said, opening a door for me, "This used to be a guest room," she explained. It was smaller than my room back home, the walls were a neutral cream color, as was the carpet. The only furniture was a dresser made of dark wood, and a small armchair in the corner. The only thing adorning the walls was a medium sized mirror. The bed had a particularly horrid floral bed spread on it.

"I was going to decorate it for you," Alice chatted as she noticed me taking everything in, "But your mom said you would like to do it yourself, so we left it as it was. We were using the closet as storage space, so I did clean that out for you," Alice beamed as she opened the small closet off to the side. I inwardly cringed, it was much smaller than my closet back home. Good thing I didn't bring all my clothes with me. "I know it's kind of boring, but we never really used it, not a whole lot of guests, except for Emmett, but then he always just slept on Edward's floor.

"I'd be happy to help you paint it, if you want, Rosalie," Emmett offered from where he was standing in the doorway. I didn't even try to muster up a smile for him.

"Would you like to see the rest of the house?" Alice offered.

"Um, actually, I'm pretty tired. Would you mind if I just laid down for a little while?" I said as politely as I could.

"No! Of course not!" Alice gasped, "Of course you would be tired, jet lag and all," Alice offered, "What time would it be back in Virginia?"

I thought for a second, "Um, I guess about 8 o'clock." Not that I was usually tired by 8:00, but traveling could be quite tiring, especially with the stupid layover.

"Oh, okay," Alice said pleasantly. She left the room, Emmett backing up out of the doorway so that she could get by. He pushed my bag a little further into the room.

Though I knew Alice was just outside in the hallway, I didn't like that Emmett was so close. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school," he flashed his straight, white teeth. Smile all you want, I thought cynically, you're not going to fool me.

When Emmett left my doorway, I quietly closed it behind him. I simply stood there for a moment. I was finally alone, and an overwhelming sense of relief washed over me. I finally didn't have to keep by brave face on.

I went and laid down on the bed, sprawling out on top of it, but then quickly curling up into a little ball. School...Emmett had reminded me. I didn't want to go. I didn't want people to try to talk to me or stare at me. I basically just wanted to stay in this little ball forever. Out on nowhere, the tears started to come, and this time I didn't try to stop them. At least these were silent ones, falling endlessly out of the corners of my eyes.

When I was done crying, I unpacked my clothes into the dresser just for something to do. Pretty much the one personal thing I had brought with me were a couple of pictures in frames. One of my dad, my mom, and me. I was ten and we were all smiling, the picture was taken so close you couldn't even properly make out where we were. The other picture was one of me and my best friends, Samantha and Georgie. We were at the beach, all wearing little bikinis, our arms thrown around each other's shoulders, laughing. Georgie had sunburn on her nose.

I checked my phone, which told me I had three texts. I would look at them later. I set the phone on top of the dresser, and then gently put the pictures in the top drawer, closing it. My mom came to check on me around 6:30 and I pretended to be asleep, and by 7:00 I actually was.


	3. Chapter 3 Early Mornings

The next morning I woke up in a cold sweat, well, barely the next morning. My phone informed me that it was only 12:48. Five hours of sleep. My body was tired, but unfortunately, my mind wasn't, so I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, concentrating on my chest as it rose and fell.

I was still wearing my jeans and my sweatshirt. The hood was twisted uncomfortably around my neck and my jeans felt constricting. I concentrated on lying as still as possible, just breathing. I closed my eyes, but didn't fall back asleep.

I decided to read my text messages. Georgie had written me:

_Hey Girlie! How's Washington? I miss you :( Can't wait to hear all about your step-family._

The next one was from Sam.

_Hey Roy. Miss you bunches! Call me when you get off the plane!_

Georgie had written me another sent a couple hours after her first. 

_Roy, Don't think you can forget us now because you're half way cross country. I _

_won't let you! lol xoxo  
_  
I smiled at their use of my nickname. Georgia's and Samantha's names could both be shortened to guy's names: George and Sam. It was in elementary school that they decided Rose could be shortened to Roy. We all decided that this was incredibly funny and called ourselves the Dudes. It was a very exclusive club: Sam, George, and Roy.

I typed out my response. 

_Hey guys. Ahh, can't sleep. Jet lags a bitch. I miss you both! I'll tell you more about the steps when I know more. Luv ya:) Roy_

I loved text messaging. It was so easy to fake emotions. Typing up a smiley face was much easier than actually smiling. I put the phone back on my dresser. Feeling a little better, I stood up. I walked out into the hallway. Though it was dark, I could see by the light leaking out of my room. Seeing as it was only past one in the morning, everyone in the house was still asleep.

Right across from my room was the bathroom. The door was open so I knew right away that's what it was.

The bathroom was actually pretty roomy, but there was only one sink, and I could tell that Alice was used to having it all to herself since there was make up and hair-care products spread all over it. The hair dryer was plugged in and lying on top of bottles of hairspray and open eye shadow.

I wasn't particularly taken aback by the amount of beauty products Alice had, since frankly I probably had about the same, but I was surprised by the disarray. Quite frankly, Alice was a slob.

I moved the hair dryer's cord out of the way so I could open the cabinet under the sink. It looked like the mess on the sink, only twice as bad. Toilet paper and tampon boxes were piled over all the stuff. Yep, Edward must have a different bathroom, because I couldn't picture any guy standing for these living conditions.

I closed the cabinet and looked around. There was a small closet next to the toilet. I opened it up and found what I was looking for. There were big, fluffy white towels piled up neatly. At least the towels were neat and orderly. I grabbed one and went over to the shower, which was quite nice, with a fancy showerhead and all. I hung the towel I found on a hook and turned on the water.

I let the hot water run over my body, turning my skin pink, plastering my long hair to my head. Showers had become a bit of a ritual for me for the past week. I turned the water to near scalding, scrubbing my body until it almost burned.

I wanted to wash my hair, but I didn't bring my shampoo, and though I didn't think Alice would mind, I didn't want to use hers without asking. So I just let the hot water do its magic. Only after I turned the shower off, did I realize that I might have woken someone up, but realizing it was too late to do anything about it now, only hoped I hadn't.

The mirrors were all steamy as I wrapped the towel around myself and grabbed my clothes off the floor. Opening the door a crack, I peaked into the hall to make sure no one was there before I dashed back into my own room, closing the door behind me.

I caught sight of my face in the mirror. Though I don't like to think of myself as vain, there's no point in pretending that I don't know that I'm pretty. Ever since I was young, boys have looked at me with appreciation. I've never lacked in male attention in my life, and I used to glorify in it.

I let the towel slip from my body and I looked at myself in the mirror. I could see my slender arms and my full breasts, even and well shaped above my flat stomach.

I looked for an outward sign, a manifestation, but nothing was there. There hadn't even been any bruises after it had first happened. How is that even possible? Remembering the way I fought, the violence of it.

I almost wished there was something there, in a perverted sick way. I wanted to see a mark on my skin, a scar. I wanted something as readily visible on the outside as the scar on the inside felt. Briefly I thought about getting a knife. Wondering what it would feel like to slash the smooth, perfect skin of my belly.

I ran my fingernails across my stomach. My skin was still sensitive from the shower, and they left sharp red lines there, that I knew would soon fade. I thought about what it would look like if I actually did cut myself. Those lines wouldn't fade. They would bleed, then scab over, then scar.

I knew I wouldn't do it though. I couldn't. Even as I thought it, I knew I wouldn't. I pulled out some clean underwear and clothes. I slipped into some jeans and another sweatshirt. My hair was still wet and with my fingers, I pushed it out of my face and let it hang down my back. Water pulled at the ends, slowly soaking a spot into my shirt, but I didn't care.

And it was still only five till 2:00. Today was going to be a long day.

It wasn't until near 6:30 that the rest of the house started waking up. School started at 7:30. I hadn't fallen back asleep, though I felt tired. Instead I explored some more of the house, well except for the upstairs, not wanting to disturb the sleepers. Everything was clean and tidy, homey and cheerful. Like the foyer and the family room, the rest of the house also looked like it was out of a magazine.

The basement was very large and a sort of den and game room. They had a pool table in one corner, and a large t.v. against the opposite wall. Situated in front of it was a big, squishy couch and armchairs. It was also decorated quite nicely as well, with old-time movie posters and advertisements framed on the walls.

After I had looked around a bit to satisfy my curiosity, I had found some Oreo cookies in the cupboard, and figuring no one would miss a few, plopped down with them in front of infomercials. When I heard the rest of the brood starting to wake up, I managed to find all the supplies to make pancakes, for something to do. I even cut up some fruit I found in the fridge. Carlisle was very impressed when he came into the kitchen.

"Rose, this is wonderful, you didn't have to do this."

I shrugged and made a non-commital answer, before escaping upstairs to brush my teeth and finish getting ready, which consisted of running a brush through my hair and throwing it back into a ponytail.

When I came back downstairs, I found Mom and Carlisle eating and drinking coffee.

"Unfortunately, the kids probably won't be up in time to have any breakfast," Carlisle told me, "School starts at 7:30 so of course they don't come downstairs until 7:20, running out the door."

I smiled politely.

Mom was studying me, but tried to hide it by drinking her coffee.

"I told them to hurry this morning, though," Carlisle continued to fill the silence with friendly conversation, "Don't want them to make you late for your first day."

There was an awkward pause then, which Carlisle felt the need to fill, "Edward usually sleeps in until five minutes before they need to leave, though it's usually Alice who's the one that makes them late, with all her primping."

"Good morning!" Alice said brightly, as though summoned by the mention of her name, flittering into the kitchen. She was dressed stylishly in skinny jeans and flats, with an oversized shirt and long necklaces.

"Morning," everyone said back.

"Ooh, breakfast," Alice said happily, picking up some fruit off the table and plopping it into her mouth.

"Rosalie made it," Carlisle said, kindly giving me credit.

"Awesome," Alice said, piling more pancakes onto her plate than I thought was possible for her tiny frame to consume. She slathered them in maple syrup before digging in. "Edward's still sleeping, though I yelled at him to get up and not make Rosalie late on her first day," Alice informed us brightly.

"Do you have everything you need for school?" mom asked, "Paper and pens?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine," I answered. I was a little nervous about school, though. I had gone to the same school with the same people since 1st grade. Never having switched schools before, I wasn't really sure what to expect, but then again, it was high school, how different could it be?

Edward came down ten minutes later at 7:15, he already had his book bag slung over his shoulder, looking like he just rolled out of bed, with his hair messy and tired eyes, he still looked like a model.

"Morning," Alice said to her brother, "If you hadn't slept so late, you would have had time for breakfast," Alice gloated as she stuffed the last of her pancakes into her mouth.

Edward grabbed the two pancakes that were left, folded them over like a sandwich and took a bite, raising his eyebrows as if to say, "See that, know it all?"

"Have a great day, kids," Mom said to all of us, though her eyes were on me. Alice bustled around me, grabbing her bag and stuffing papers into it while I followed Edward out to his car. It was raining slightly, more of a mist really, with gloomy clouds overhead.

"We always stop and pick up Bella on the way to school," Edward informed me as I sat in the passengers seat.

"Oh, should I leave this seat for her?" I asked, thinking that perhaps Edward's girlfriend got dibs on shotgun in his car.

Edward scoffed at me, "No, whatever," he dismissed. Alice, like a whirlwind, was suddenly in the backseat.

"Let's go," she said.

Bella ran out into the car as soon as we pulled into the driveway. She must have been watching for us. "Hey guys, Hey Rosalie," she acknowledged me special.

"Hi."

The ride to school was quite short actually, after we picked up Bella, though we still ended up being late, but only by a few minutes. I could tell Edward and Bella weren't super concerned, by their lazy smiles and demeanor as they sauntered up to the large brick building. Edward slipped his hand the back pocket of Bella's jeans as they walked. There were a few people scurrying around us to get to class.

"Don't worry, I'll show Bella the office!" Alice called after her brother, but not with the sarcasm you would suspect, but as though she actually believe Edward was worried. "Let's go! I knew Edward would make us late," Alice rolled her eyes. I didn't bother to point out that it was in fact Alice we had been waiting for in the end.

"Hello!" Alice announced cheerily to the whole room as we entered the main office.

The secretary looked up from behind her desk. She was an ordinary looking middle-aged woman with a friendly smile. "Hello Alice, and this must be Rosalie," she greeted us.

I thought about my old high school, back in Virginia. There was always at least one student in the front office, usually a whole horde, but we appeared to be the only ones here this morning. The office was much smaller, too. There were two chairs off to one side, and the secretary sat directly in front of us behind a desk. An ancient computer sat in front of her. Behind her there was a little room that I couldn't quite see into.

"I got your transcripts from Virginia yesterday. I've made up a tentative schedule. Moving in the middle of the school year can be so hard. There is some wiggle room to change things, if you want. Come take a look." She started clicking her mouse.

I walked up to the secretary's desk. I saw her nametag sitting there, decorated with stickers, which read Mrs. Cope. "Alice, dear, you can run along to class, wouldn't want you to miss anything. I'm sure Rosalie can find her way."

I turned to see Alice's disappointed look, before she gave me a half smile and a "good luck," before leaving the office. She undoubtedly wanted to get more time out of class.

"Alright. I see you were on a block schedule, where as we run on periods here. Only a minor hiccup though, shouldn't be too hard to get things in order." Smile. "It says you were taking Latin 2, which unfortunately we don't offer here." Apologetic smile. "But I see you've taken French 1, so I put you in French 2 first period." She looked at me expectantly for confirmation.

"That's fine," I shrugged.

"Then you have biology, gym, 2nd lunch, and you need another math course, which could either be statistics or algebra 2?" she looked at me expectantly.

"Algebra 2."

"Then government, and as your literature requirement has already been met, that leaves you with two elective openings, one third period and one fifth. Now one of those can be a study hall, if you want. Let's see," she was staring intently at the screen of her computer. "There's an art class third period?" she kept scanning, "Oh, and the school band meets fifth. Do you play an instrument?"

"Um, I think the art class sounds perfect," I said quickly. No, I did not play an instrument, and certainly not in the nerdy school band. "And a study hall sounds good." At my old school, study hall wasn't an option—a free period with no class? Sign me up, please.

"Okay-dokey then, Art third and study hall fifth." She clicked the screen a few more times as she spoke. I could hear the sound of a printer from under the desk before she whipped out a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"Looks like your all set, dear. Don't worry about being late, Mr. Hanson will understand completely. Oh, and here's your locker information," she said, handing me a post-it note with a locker number and combination on it. "You can find that at the far end of the building. When you leave here, walk straight back," she pointed, and turn left at the end of the hall. Your locker should be on the far side."

Okay, well this was it. I left the office. The halls were completely deserted now.  
I once again thought of my old school. It had been a brand new building, with large windows everywhere. In fact, it had seemed the building was more windows than wall, actually. And it hadn't been one building, but a series of three closely connected ones.

This school, however, appeared to be old. Perhaps built in the seventies. The halls were dark with hardly any windows. The office hadn't had any. How depressing. A depressing school for a depressing town for a depressed me. Perfect. I scanned the lockers when I got to the area I had been directed to.

I opened it and put my coat inside, then stared at my open locker for a few minutes, stalling going to class. Was this such a good idea after all? Then I thought about the alternative, and decided it was. I couldn't go to school everyday and see them. A shudder ran through my body and I quickly pushed all thoughts from my mind, slamming my locker closed, before determinedly heading toward my first class.


	4. Chapter 4 First Day

I walked into French about halfway through the class. The teacher was right in the middle of speaking to the class, but stopped as soon as I walked in. Everyone turned to me.

"Bonjour," the blond woman at the front turned to me. Her hair was piled on her head and her earrings dangled down past her chin. "Vous êtes qui?"

"Uh," I hesitated, "Je suis Rosalie. Uh, je suis une studente-nouvelle."

"Ah, tres bien," she said pleasantly. "Bienvenue! You can go ahead and take a seat. We were just discussing irregular conjugations. Are you familiar?"

"A little. It's been a while," I said as I looked around the classroom, trying to determine where I could sit. The classroom wasn't especially large, but still, only about half the seats were filled up. All the faces were staring at me curiously, except for one, who I recognized right away. Emmett was grinning at me in recognition, appearing to be sitting straighter in his chair.

Normally I would at least give a polite smile in this sort of situation, but because I instantly disliked him, I only turned my head. There were some seats off to the left that appeared to be semi-isolated. I sat down in one of them. The teacher came over and handed me a book. "Here you are, Rosalie," she said before walking back up to the front of the classroom to resume writing on the chalkboard. Well, that was nice, I think I was going to like Ms. Hampton already. She didn't make me give the new kid speech.

At the end of class, which was over quickly, I left right away before Emmett could stop me to say "hi." I was in such a hurry to get away from him that by the time I looked down at my schedule to see where my next class was, I realized that it was back where I had come from. I turned around to head back the other direction. Being a new kid in a small town, I definitely stood out. A lot of the kids in the hallways were staring. I tried not to notice them.

My next class was pretty uneventful. Bella and Edward were in it, sitting together. They gave me polite smiles, which I returned, but that was it. I appreciated their calm aloofness. I didn't really want to have to chit chat or anything. After biology was art. They were doing self portraits. The teacher, a red-haired goofy looking man, handed me a mirror and I spent the half hour drawing a misshapen circle with an off-center mouth, though the fifteen minutes and half an eraser I spent on the nose, I think paid off in the end, since it turned out pretty good.

After looking at my first attempt, Mr. Gerino, gave me lots of praise and then extra homework, just for me, to practice drawing individual facial features.

Gym was awful, but what else was new? By the time I got to lunch I was convinced: School was hell. I had never really gotten that phrase before, but it seemed all too obvious to me now. The worst was that people kept trying to talk to me. I tried my best to be polite, but I wanted to keep my distance. I didn't want them to get the wrong idea, especially the guys. I was currently trying to navigate a particular situation.

A guy was walking me to the lunch room, desperately trying to make conversation. He was in my gym class, and despite my silence and aloofness, he didn't seem to get the hint. "Hey, do you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?" he asked brightly, "Considering you're new and all."

"Uhh, I have to go to the bathroom," I said like some sort of idiot, turning and hurrying back to the bathroom we had just passed. There was no one else in there, so I let myself relax for a moment, stop being so tense.

I washed my hands for a good couple minutes, and when no one came into the bathroom, I considered not going to lunch at all, but rather just staying there. No one would miss me. But then I realized that I didn't know what lunch Alice and Edward had. If they were in mine, and I didn't show up, they would question where I was, and how could I explain missing it?

I reluctantly trudged into the cafeteria, which like everything else in this school, was smaller than the one back home. There were several round tables dispersed throughout. And even though some of the kids were still in line, I could tell that here probably weren't enough students to fill all the tables.

I didn't immediately spot anyone I knew. I tried to be invisible and I headed over to an empty table in the corner, sitting down quickly. Within a minute, a brown-haired girl came up to me, smiling friendly. "Hey you're Rosalie, right?" she asked, "Why don't you come sit with us?"

What the hell was with this school and overly-friendly do-gooders? At my old school, it was unlikely that so much attention would be paid the new kid, especially an unfriendly one who clearly wanted to be left alone. But not in Forks, no, here you would be welcomed and forced to join in. Why did my mom have to move to Forks, Washington, instead of some big city? I longed for the peace of anonymity.

I struggled to come up with a reason to refuse her, but unable to, I simply shrugged and nodded, standing up to follow her to her table. "I'm Beth, by the way," she said, sitting down, "And this is Carrie and Steve and Robin," she introduced the other kids who were all sitting there. "This is Rosalie," she said, gesturing to me as I sat down at an empty seat.

"Where are you from again, Rosalie?" Carrie asked.

"Virginia," I answered automatically. The girls seemed to be the sweater-wearing, straight-A, extra-curricular galore types. You know the kind I mean. They were pretty and put-together, by no means nerds, but also by no means cool either. They were just too perfect. Steve, the only guy there, was their male counterpart. I really didn't want to be here.

"Oh, cool, Why did you move to Washington?" Carrie continued with the next logical question to ask the new girl.

"My parents got a divorce," I said shortly. Hopefully that would end any follow up questions effectively enough, which it did, but still didn't save me, since they only then started asking about what my schedule was like. At one point, another guy, Chad or Brad or something, joined us.

I kept my eyes open for the force which is Alice, or Edward or Bella, but none of them appeared in the lunch room. I actually kind of hoped Edward and Bella would be here, then I would have an excuse to get away from these drones, and I had a feeling that they would get that I really wasn't in any sort of mood for conversation lately. They didn't show up, though, and I figured that they must have first lunch. Who did end up showing up, though, was Emmett. Oh joy.

I didn't notice him at first, but then at one point he stood up and threw an empty can across the room, hitting his friend, who was by a trashcan, in the back of the head with it. The group of boys he was sitting with all burst into obnoxious laughter while he and his friend pretended to hit each other. God, I hated idiotic meat-heads like that. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore him.

At the end of lunch, though, he suddenly sprang up while I was throwing my food scraps away. "Hey Rosie," he greeted me, deciding he could suddenly call me Rosie.

"It's Rosalie," I say as I walk away. Actually, I would answer to just about anything: Rose, Rosie, Rosalie, Roy, and the occasional Ro-Ro, but I didn't like Emmett.

"Well, Rosalie," he said deliberately, "Where are you headed?"

I glared at him but he only looked at me expectantly, following me down the hall. "Algebra 2," I admitted. I was pretty sure I was heading in the right direction. The school was pretty small, so I already knew where 125A was likely to be.

"Ah," he nodded, "You know, this is probably totally crazy and off base," he prefaced as he looked at me earnestly, "But I sort of get the feeling to don't like me."

I decided to answer with silence.

"Crazy right?" he asks. I refused to look at him, but I could feel his impossibly tall frame radiating energy next to me. He was making me nervous and I started to walk faster.

"Yeah," I said, just to dismiss him. I would resolutely refuse his attempts to flirt with me.

Though he didn't immediately say anything, he continued to follow close beside me down the hall, as though we were walking together. I quickened my pace, but unfortunately, I think I only succeeded in matching his normal one, with him having such long legs and all.

I reached the classroom, and turned to head inside. Though I refused to look at him, I could sense him following me into the room. Was he really this obsessed as to follow me to class? There were only a few kids in the room as of yet. I went and took a desk toward the back of the room. Emmett sat down right next to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked angrily.

"What?" he said innocently.

I rolled my eyes.

"You do that a lot, you know," Emmett said.

I ignored him.

Emmett laughed, "That too."

"Are you going to sit here all class?" I snapped angrily, "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on skipping today," he said suggestively. Then I felt like an idiot. Oh, he was in this class, too.

The bell rang and suddenly a flurry of students entered the classroom. Bella was among them. She spotted me and smiled as she took what was probably her usual seat next to the window. When she saw Emmett sitting next to me, she gave a small, knowing smile into her chest.

Not going to happen, Bella. Dream on Emmett.

The teacher entered the room, then. He was in his forties, it looked like, with curly brown hair.

"Good afternoon, class," he said, "And I see a new face slinking in the back there," he was looking directly at me.

"Hi, I'm Rosalie," I waved my hand.

"Well, Rosalie," he greeted me, "Why don't you come up front and tell us a little bit about yourself."

Really? I thought. He was the first teacher to ask me to do this. I wasn't shy or anything, and I didn't have any sort of aversion to public speaking, but this wasn't exactly fitting my plan with flying under the radar and going unnoticed, although that wasn't really working out so great anyway.

I stood up and headed toward the front of the room. "Hi, I'm Rosalie Hale, or Rose is fine. I moved here from Virginia." I gave a weird sort of curtsy thing, and then tried to hustle back to my seat.

"Okay," the teacher, Mr. Buloski, said, "Short and sweet. That's fine. Well, why don't you go ahead and follow along for right now, Rose, then you can see me if you need any help."

"Sure," I say, sitting down at the back. Math really was one of my worst subjects. The problem was that I tried to pay attention, I really did, but usually after about ten minutes, I would zone out. It was just so boring. The same thing happened today.

I was trying to take notes on the back of a piece of paper, but about halfway through I stared doodling in the corners, drawing curvy lines through the numbers and words.

I had been prepared to sit back and be bored, but the class was over practically as soon as it started. I was still getting used to periods.

Bella caught me on my way out of the room. "How is your first day going, Rosalie?" Bella asked politely.

"Fine," I answered without even really thinking about it. Bella and I chatted politely about general topics for about a minute as we walked down the hall together. Bella spotted Edward and headed off in his direction. I saw him put his arm around her waist and kiss the top of her head before I turned and headed in down the hall toward Government. God, they had been apart a whole 45 minutes; how did they survive?

I realized that I was probably just being bitter. Edward and Bella were actually pretty cute together.

Government was uneventful, but I was just relieved when study hall was next. Then it would finally be the end of the day. The thing about these periods was that the individual classes were a lot shorter, but it also had the effect of making the day seem to last forever, like a marathon.

Study hall was held in the library, at some tables in the back. When I walked in, the librarian behind the desk said that I was welcome to sit anywhere or use the computers for homework, however I wasn't allowed to use them for video games or facebook.

I nodded and headed toward the back. Most of the computers were already taken up, and at least half of them were on facebook. I sat down at an empty table, putting my purse down in front of me along with my newly acquired textbooks.

I actually did have a lot of homework, in almost every class. I decided to do the French problems first, since I knew they would be easy and I could get them out of the way.

"Hey, you're Rosalie right?" a voice asked as a boy sat down across from me. I looked up. He was thin and blonde with a beaky nose.

"Yeah," I answered, looking back down at my paper. At this point I didn't even care about being nice anymore. I just wanted to be left alone.

"I'm Todd," he gave his name unsolicited.

I ignored him.

"I think we have Biology together," he offered. Normally I would give a polite smile, but I didn't even bother to look up.

"What are you working on?" he tried again. I still didn't look up.

"Hey," his voice was sharp-annoyed, startling me. I jumped in my seat and stared up at him.

"Hey Rose," Emmett suddenly sat down next to me, giving me his signature lazy grin.

Todd looked Emmett up and down for a moment, "See you in Bio," he said as he stood up and walked away.

Emmett looked over at me. I relaxed my hands, not even realizing I had been clenching them into fists.

"You know, Rose," he Emmett said after about a minuted, in a quiet voice, "You don't fool me."

I looked over at him in confusion, "What?"

"I just thought I would let you know that you don't fool me," he said with a shrug. I guess I could have asked him to explain, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, so I turned back to what I had been doing. I read over the French homework, and as I suspected, it was rather easy. I started filling in the translations.

"You working on French?" Emmett asked me, although he could obviously see that I was. "You seem to know what your doing."

"I guess."

"I'm terrible at French. I didn't want to take French II, but I need two courses of a foreign language to graduate with honors-my parents," he said by way of explanation.

"Oh," I said.

"Geez, talk a guy's ear off," Emmett teased me. I couldn't help the flash of a smile I gave my book.

"So do you like French?" he dragged the dead conversation on.

"Yeah," I gave another one word answer.

"Maybe you could help me with it," Emmett said. I glanced up at his face. Why didn't I like him again?

"Sure, I guess," I gave in.

"Great," Emmett cheered, "How about now?"

"Now?" I asked dumbly. Emmett was leaning in toward me as I hunched my shoulders in on myself, making myself as small as possible.

"Sure, why not? I need help with tonight's homework anyway."

"Uh, okay," I agreed.  
Emmett pulled out his worksheet. I was actually surprised when he didn't just ask to copy mine, but actually tried to do the translations on his own. I corrected him when he did something wrong and found out that Emmett hadn't lied, he did pretty much suck at French. It took the whole study break before we were done with the homework.

"That's great, Rose, thanks a bunch."

I was surprised to find that I wasn't really feeling uncomfortable around Emmett any more. I was actually kind of relaxed.

"Yeah, sure," I agreed.

I started to gather up my books while Emmett just sat back in his chair, watching me.

"What did you mean when you said I didn't fool you?" I blurted out suddenly.

Emmett laughed. "I guess I meant that I can see you trying to be all mean and standoffish," he leaned toward me a little, "But I can tell that's not you."

"And how would you know?" I said snippily.

Emmett only grinned and shrugged. The bell rang.

I stood up to head toward my locker. "See you tomorrow," Emmett called after me. 


	5. Chapter 5

By the time I got home, I felt pretty exhausted. My mom of course wanted to know how my first day went, and I plastered on a smile and said that it went well. I even lied and said I met some kids, the kids I sat with at lunch, and that we might be friends. Mom seemed pleased and didn't question me when I went up to my room to work on all the schoolwork I had to catch up on.

I tried to do the algebra, I really did, but after getting the first three problems wrong, I just set it aside. I picked up the little sketchbook my art teacher had given me. I looked at my attempt from class. It really was terrible. I went over to the mirror hanging on the wall.

Lifting it up off its hook, I set it down on the floor. I sat down in front of it and pulled my sketchbook and pencil into my lap. I stared at myself for a moment, but then soon couldn't shake the feeling of disgust I felt, so instead I concentrated on one part, and started to draw my nose. My paper was soon covered in erase marks. I stared at the curve of my nose, drawing it carefully, but when I looked back down at the paper, it just didn't match.

I tried my mouth as well, but everything came out like a second grader had drawn it. I ended up throwing the book across the room in frustration. My eyes were tired, so I laid down on the bed. I couldn't fall asleep, though. Despite my exhaustion, I didn't fall asleep until well after midnight.

The next day at school started similar to the first. Alice, Edward, Bella, and I all rode together. French was easy, I even smiled at Emmett, who grinned stupidly back at me, though I still didn't sit next to him, preferring my isolated seat.

In Bio, we just watched a movie. After art class, again Mr. Gerino stopped to talk to me. He looked at my attempts, and smiled in encouragement. "Good job, Rosalie. I can see that you put a lot of effort into this." He could? I looked like shit. "But how about next time, instead of erasing everything, you just leave what you have, and simply start anew? It doesn't have to be perfect," he smiled at hem and handed me back my sketch book. He also gave me some special pencils to use.

"Okay," I said meekly before walking to gym.

"Rose," the gym instructor said while I sat in the bleachers while everyone else changed. "You can play in your regular clothes again today, but I really expect you to bring a change of clothes by tomorrow. Got it?"

I had forgotten to do that. "Okay," I agreed. We played basketball again. I mostly just stood at the end of the court, avoiding the ball whenever possible.

At lunch, Beth, the girl from yesterday, tried to wave me over to her table. I just gave a weak smile and turned away, walking over to an isolated one. She gave me a strange look, but didn't come over. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to be happy and pretend today.

I was glad when no one came up to me, and I could just start to eat in peace. Halfway through lunch, though, Emmett strolled in. I don't know what he was doing before. He looked like he was going to head over to his friends, but then he spotted me and started to stroll right over.

"Hey there, Rosie," Emmett grinned. "What are you doing over here all by yourself?"

"I prefer to be by myself, thanks," I snipped at him.

Emmett held his hand up to his heart as though I had wounded him. "Ouch, that stings," he said dramatically.

"Come on, girl," his voice was booming, "come sit with me," he said, nodding his head over to his table.

"No thanks," I picked up my sandwich again, refusing to look at him. Since I was so concentrated on not looking at Emmett, I was really startled when I felt his arms suddenly around him, and then I was being picked up.

"Let me down," I shouted, louder than I had expected. The whole cafeteria got quiet, but I couldn't see anything because I was thrown over Emmett's shoulder.

"Hey calm down now," Emmett said, as he started to walk.

"Put me down," I screeched, possibly even louder than before, punching and kicking wildly.

I think Emmett was genuinely surprised by my reaction, since he then set me down on my feet. I ran out of the cafeteria. I mean literally ran.

I wasn't sure if I was more scared or angry at that point, but by the time I hit the girls' bathroom, my anger took over and I was furious.

There was no one in the bathroom, thank God. I quickly locked myself in a stall, and then couldn't stop the deluge of tears I released. I wanted to hit something...hit Emmett. That giant, evil oaf. I hated him. Hated him!

I cried and cried. And not just silent tears, but loud sobs. After a couple of minutes, though, I realized that someone could come in at any time. I fought to get myself under control. I still wanted to hit Emmett, but I tried to stop the uncontrollable crying.

Someone came in and used the restroom, but thankfully they were done quickly. When they left, I came out of the stall. My eyes were a little red, but not too bad. I splashed cold water on my face, hoping to wash away the evidence of my slight emotional breakdown.

I realized that lunch was probably over by now, so I left the bathroom and started to walk to Algebra. Emmett would be there. I really didn't want to see him, but I didn't want to get in trouble for skipping class, either.

When I walked into the classroom, I realized that though most people were already in their seats, I hadn't missed the bell or anything. The seat I was in yesterday, next to Emmett was empty, but I took one up front instead, refusing to look at him.

About halfway through class, a note landed on my desk. I thought about not opening it, but was curious, so I did, even though I knew who it was probably from.

_I'm sorry. :(_

That was all it said. I rolled my eyes and pushed the note off the desk onto the floor. I refused to look toward the back of the classroom.

After class ended, I was quick to exit the classroom, to avoid a certain person, but I knew I would end up having to see him in study hall anyway.

I was one of the first people there, and I took a chair in a corner. I knew Emmett was going to come try to talk to me, but I was preparing myself to ignore him already.

"I'm sorry," were the first words out of his mouth.

Emmett dropped to his knees in front of my chair, clasping his hands in front of him, "Please forgive me," he begged. Didn't he get it that I wasn't impressed with his over-dramatic shenanigans?

"I'm an idiot, you have to forgive me," he pleaded.

I didn't look at him.

"You have to forgive me because I won't leave until you do," was his next attempt.

"Fine, I forgive you," I ground out.

"I knew you would, you beautiful creature, how can you resist?" he asked. I just wanted him to go away. Despite what I said, I still was angry at him.

"How about some help with French?" Emmett hedged.

"Just leave me alone, okay? I have to do my own work."

He was silent for a moment, then in a voice very un-Emmett like he said, "Okay, Rose." I heard him stand up and turn around.

The whole time he had been trying to talk to me, I had been stubbornly refusing to look at his face, but now, instinctively, I turned to get a glimpse of his retreating back. I just as quickly turned back to my book, though. I tried to read, but for the rest of the period, I simply stared down at the same page.

Of course everyone in the school heard about my little freak-out during lunch, and that included Edward, and Bella. I assume Alice as well, but she wasn't there with us for the ride home-cheerleading practice. When I met up with them after school, Bella was the first one to address it.

"I heard what happened at lunch," she said as we all climbed into the car. "Emmett didn't mean to make you angry, I'm sure. He was just joking around."

"Yeah, he feels really bad about it, too," Edward put in. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I definitely got the sense that they thought I was overreacting to the situation. I guess I probably was. At least they didn't know about the crying.

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled from the back seat.

Bella kindly changed the subject, and I was quiet as she and Edward talked as he drove. It was only a short distance from when we dropped Bella off before we got to the Cullen house, but it was still an awkward time.

"Seriously, Em's a good guy," Edward hedged, "he didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine," I mumble. Edward and Bella were doing a good job of making me feel guilty, but I still couldn't help being angry at Emmett. He didn't have the right to just push me around like that.

Edward didn't mention what happened to my mom or Carlisle, though, for which I was grateful. Hopefully tomorrow would be better, and hopefully everyone would just leave me alone.


End file.
